Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

As soon as I started working in IT my dad the eye doctor prompted me on the effects of blue light on the eye. Something about macular degeneration or whatever. Wondering what the hell he was talking about I asked for more information on this and what it had to do with staring at a computer screen for eight hours a day.

I knew enough about it originally that like our ancestors, the human body reacts to light and dark liken to day and night. You rise and fall with the sun, signaling a hard days work in the sun and when sky went dark you went to sleep. Not so much anymore these days. It seems a lot of people, (specifically the college aged) stay up late, stare at their iPhone and Mac Book all day and hardly get enough Vitamin D.

The average person spends seven hours a day in front of a blue lit screen. Between our phones, computers, TV’s, indoor lights, and ya know, the sun, we’re getting blue light from all angles. But I mean if it comes from the sun why does it matter if it comes from electronics?

Although some exposure to this light is needed to prevent seasonal affective disorder, where you become depressed due to the lack of light, too much blue light can be correlated to an aging to the eyes or age-related macular degeneration, which in turn can lead to blindness.

Ray Charles loved it.

To dig a little deeper, the human eye can see light between 380 and 780 on the elecrtro magnetic spectrum. Above 780 becomes infrared and below 380 is ultraviolet. Scientists have known blue light to be powerful for some time now. The next step after visible blue light are the UV rays sun screen is recommended for.

If they recommended sun screen for the next lower than blue light to protect our skin from damage, shouldn’t we be doing the same for eyes? Everyone knows not to stare into the sun like an idiot, but how much does the average person know about eye health?

I wonder what the trend would look like from 1980 to now concerning number of people with some form of corrective lenses.

If you’ve heard of flux you probably know the benefits of dimming/warming your computer screen as the day goes on to match the light you get from the sun. Changing the setting of your computers display from a high energy blue-violet light to a lower energy warm red light, you can observe the effects of less eye strain, more melatonin production, and a deeper good nights sleep.

What flux fails to mention, is that it can also act as a buffer between you and blue light. (Although if you really wanted to, some lense crafters do make glasses specifically to block out blue light.) Aside from warming your display to match the light from the sun, you can alter the settings to a 100% filter. The default lowest setting at night only goes to about 75% filter. I keep mine at a constant 100% filter.

For specifically health reasons only, if you work in an environment where you stare at a blue lit screen all day, but have an HR department getting in your way they almost have to give it to you. Unless your computer is connected to a highly secured network with no room for unnecessary risk, cite it as a health concern and you should have some serious clout.

In the journey of self improvement it is important to keep ourselves informed and in good health.

Well maybe not all of them, but I’ve definitely made a lot. You would imagine like most other sports, weight lifting would come with admirable coaches that teach how to correctly and properly teach how to perform, right? Wrong.

In my experience weightlifting may have been the most over-saturated with bull shit get ripped quick schemes of all sports. Instead of working on your craft day in and day out, we have every last guru guaranteed quick fix. Who cares about legs when you can get arms like Arnold’s in less than 30 days.

And maybe you’re better informed than I was when I started lifting, but when I was first starting out these were some of the mistakes I’ve dealt with in the past.

No legs

The first and definitely the most embarrassing is the fact that I thought I didn’t have to work on legs if my upper body got big enough. From walking around all day with all the added weight from my upper body being so jacked my legs would just naturally get bigger to match my perfect physique.

Obsession

Another, and is one that still happens to this day is that I will hyper-focus on one muscle that is smaller than the others and tear away at getting it bigger until it becomes bigger than a different muscle and the process tend to repeat itself. My biceps are quite large, as well as the right one being noticeably bigger than the left. Still don’t know how this happened, but ironically the left one is stronger. Beats me.

Injuries

A lot of these came from not keeping my back straight in the heavier lifts. I felt a “crunch” sound while squatting with my back leaning forward. I’ve been bedridden from trying out deadlifts for the first time, also not keeping my back straight. I’ve torn my right shoulder from one time I put on a 10lb weight on one side of the bar and not the other while squatting and tried to push with my arms on the last couple of reps and yikes. Ouch.

“Accessory muscles”

One debatable mistake I made was when I took the advice of a fellow gym goer that told me to work on the smaller, accessory muscles first before going into the bigger lifts. Such as doing curls before rows and tricep pulls before bench. Really? I’m supposed to use precious muscle glycogen stores and creatine energy cycles on accessories muscles before I do the lifts that actually matter? They are accessory muscles and we treat them as such. Accessories.

“Carbs and dairy, man! Carbs and dairy!”

More bad advice from a friend who was much bigger than I was, was that he told me you wont be sexy or anything, but you’ll put on weight in no time if you eat a lot of carbs and dairy. So pasta, pizza, and gallons of milk are the best thing for me to build muscle? Right….

Not finding an informed mentor.

As you can see it took a series of bad information before I found some good information to go off of. My two favorites are Elliot Hulse and Paul Chek while bodybuiling.com can have a diamond in the rough every once in a while. This would be the most important out the list as it would help prevent some of the mistakes I’ve made above.

What are some of the mistakes you have made in your workout routines? Can’t be nearly as bad as the first one on my list. Ha.

Today we’re getting juiced! No not that kind of juiced involving steroids, but the kind with, you know, ACTUAL juice.

With the convenience of prepackaged garbage they call food on the shelves of every grocery store it can sometime be difficult to sit down, prepare the food, and eat a wholesome meal with the some real nutritional value.

Similar to the concept of “drinking your calories” often spoken when weightlifters go on bulking season, so too can you “drink” your food with these five easy blends anyone with a Wal-Mart nearby and blender/juicer on the counter can make.

Triple M

Honeydew Melon
Musk Melon
Mint Leaves

Equal amounts of each melon and throw in as much mint as you desire. I personally like a heavier minty flavor due me not being a big fan of melon, but can be a refreshing drink on a hot day.

Mean Green

Kale
Broccoli
Spinach
Green apple
Parsley

What I first started out juicing with, a very vegetable heavy mix, this can be a little too much for the new comer. Adding lime or a green apple can help make it a little sweeter.

They called him Malone…Water-Malone.

Watermelon
Kale
Red apple
Lemon/lemon juice

Sweeter blend with barely a hint of kale taste, this too can be a easy down on a hot summer day.

And my personal favorite at the moment.

Mother Earth

Bears…BEETS!…Battle Star Galactica!
Red apples
Ginger

Tastes like what it is. Mother Earth with a tad of sweet flavor. You can reduce the earthy flavor by peeling the beet, but I think I kind of like it myself and you don’t wanna miss out on the benefits beet juice.

There you have it, four easy blends for getting juiced. To get more on getting juiced head on over to Mike’s Fit Juice site.

Anywhere you search for what supplements you should buy, its always protein powder, creatine, BCAA’s, NO, or some phytochemical you’ve never heard before. here,here, and here were the top results for a google search of best workout supplements and what do we find, but tubs full of powdered garbage.
Perhaps if we had people who were dedicated to the grind and didn’t eat like shit we wouldn’t have the bloated supp industry we have now.

Whey protein shake for immediate recovery, casein protein shake before bed for slow burning intake to get you through the night, and then another whey + creatine shake before a lift for MAXIMUM bro science official muscle growth.

I can see how easy it is to prey upon a young and naive demographic wanting to get jacked, and it pisses me off. Putting on muscle is already expensive enough when it comes to needing more food for more calorie expenditure and bigger clothes when you start seeing results. (When your thighs are bigger than your waste, every pair of jeans become skinny jeans) The last thing you need to spend your hard earned money on are powdered false claims.

Whey Protein – Everybody needs a FAST burning protein to get to our muscles as QUICKLY as possible to OPTIMALLY build strength and size.

Casein Protein – If you don’t have a SLOW burning protein to keep you going after the fast burning whey protein is gone your work out will go to SHIT!

BCAAs – As if protein wasn’t enough by itself we must break it down to the components that are it individually. Leucine, isoleucine and valine are a far better source for muscle repair and is best if you take them separately on top of your two other protein powders.

Candy Bars Protein Bars – The avid weight lifter is always on the go and needs QUALITY protein such as the estrogenic soy protein crammed full of chocolate indulgence and cookie dough delight. Make sure to sneak one of these babies in between meals to keep up your protein stores.

Creatine is the only supplement worth your while for training.

For any kind of resistance training, most likely it is your ATP energy system that is going to be used. Adenosine triphosphate is the energy compound in your muscles when performing reps. When this energy is used up it loses a phosphate and becomes adenosine diphosphate. This is where creatine comes in.

Creatine comes from all animal flesh in small amounts or can be supplemented via powder form. When ingested it’s stored in a creatine phosphate form. I’m starting to see a connection here.

What creatine does is when ATP stores are depleted it gives the ADP byproduct back another phosphate replenishing our energy stores for more reps. This is what we call intermittent set recovery. With creatine you can train better for longer. Anything else is garbage.

“No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” – Socrates

Ask an average person with an average diet and an average exercise regiment, how they are and they will tell you, they’re fine. Their brain cells are slowly being killed off by lack of stimulation and large amounts of alcohol consumption, but they’re fine they tell you. Their bodies are atrophying by their poor workout plan and processed garbage they call food, but they are fine they tell you.

The average person goes about their day, knowingly or not, committing a slow suicide. Mentally, physically, spiritually. Reading nothing than the latest trend on twitter or facebook. Letting their bodies morph into the couch itself, becoming another cushion on the frame. Not pursuing the child like inspiration in their soul, telling them to go out and do what they dream to do because they have bills to pay’. Maybe rightfully so, but this does not warrant a life of a slow death.

The more I take my health seriously, the less I want to eat out with the masses. The options are few if any that do not make me want to vomit soon after. If I go more than week without lifting heavy I physically become depressed and have to force myself to pump out a set of Super Squats

Juicing, lifting, and getting a good nights sleep, more or less, makes me feel incredible. Most of those around me and that I observe I can tell are aging quickly and they are only in their 20’s. Their minds and their bodies are going to shit well before their natural aging process wants to allow. Bags under their eyes, skin looking damaged and dull, with fat accumulating around their bodies and the mind doesn’t go unscathed either. The mind that started out inspired and delighted to begin a new life has been murdered and replaced with a machine mind hell bent on serving the interest of leading a stable life.

Too often do I see people living the unexamined life. Sacrificing health for ‘wealth’ can only be executed for so long before it becomes unsustainable.

Health of the Body

Diet and exercise. It’s so simple yet so hard for so many to understand and execute properly. This will differ for different people with different goals in mind, but the concept stays the same. If your are not burning more calories than you are taking in, and not working out you will get fat. Fat isn’t good for anybody no matter what the doctors say about being healthy fat. I eat a 80//20 paleo diet with the exception of milk, cottage cheese, and an occasional pb and j (I am just a sucker for the pb and j) and juice regularly. It is not hard to eat clean and exercise regularly to maintain a healthy body.

Leg day:
1 set of super squats. 20 x 1. 225lbs
4 sets of dead lifts. Starting at 155 pyramiding to 185 for last set.
3 sets of leg curl. Starting at 135 pyramiding to 155 for last set.
3 sets of calve raises. Start at 255 pyramiding to 275 for last set.

I can barely walk up to the second floor to do leg curls after squats and dead lifts.

Full workout and diet plan soon to come.

Health of the Mind

If you go day in and day out, 8-10 hours a day doing something you hate for someone else’s benefit. You are committing spiritual suicide. You will become dead inside and live the rest of your life waiting for retirement and death to get a break.

Work relentlessly to free yourself from the bullshit we are being conditioned to endure. Ignore everyone and do your own thing if you have to. If you end up working for someone else and you love it, I am glad for you. I can’t even stomach the thought it. That being said, if you are like me and are still working for someone else, you must take the time out to invest in yourself in whatever way you see fit.

Read Books!
Take the time off to recharge, but also find the time to expand your mind to alternative perspectives. You can learn at least one thing from any person at anytime if you are looking for it. Books can be the perfect lens into another persons mind if you cant find someone physically. Autobiographies are great in this regard. Ask your friends over just to hang out and talk, you’ll be surprised with the topics that can be entertained when given the opportunity. I find my best talks are immediately after a good lift. Post workout pondering should be the podcast for those talks if I recorded them. Ha.

Meditate with deep breathing focusing on your breathing and chanting a mantra in your head for 10 minutes a day. This will help clear your mind immensely when you feel like all the stress in your life is giving you stomach ulcers. Lock yourself in your room or find an enclosed area where you wont be distracted and just breathe, close your eyes, and chant.

If you find yourself indulging in destructive activities to deal with stress, try finding more constructive activities to replace them. I can’t even begin to list all the things you can do, but a few would be reading,writing, painting, drawing, running, working out, driving, have sex!, yoga, fishing, hunting, watch a movie, build something, work on a new skill….

This is mere scratch on the surface for what you can do for the mind and body. Remember this is my experience and have no problem hearing yours and what you do for you mind and body.